Wesley Cole Davis

Get ready for a huge post! I remembered being foggy about some details with Camden after the meds so I tried to be better about jotting things down along the way this time. I don't know what it is with my kids and the NICU but they don't like to have simple birth stories. This means that this post will be very very long!

Sunday night Camden woke up at 2:30 and 4:00 and of course I didn't sleep in between. I was getting pretty anxious. I woke up at 6:30 Monday morning. I got all ready and got some good loves in to Camden and then we headed to the hospital. My mom came to watch Camden for us while we were in the hospital. We were pretty disappointed that he wouldn't be able to come in to the hospital to see us. It seemed very surreal. We got checked in and and I got my iv. This time the anesthesiologist was on time. He talked to me a little about the queasiness last time and he gave me a sea sick patch and some anti nausea stuff that really helped this time.  I got an epidural and it was not fun. It wasn't the worst ever but it hurt and there was a lot of pressure putting it in. My legs slowly went numb this time. They gave me a little more in the epidural in the operating room because I could still move my toes!
I went in to surgery at 11:30. The Dr was running a little behind so they started closer to 11:50. Wesley Cole was born at 12:14. Dan watched him being pulled out. He was 8lbs 9 oz and cried right away. He had about as much hair as Camden but was much chunkier! They let Dan hold him near me for about ten minutes after they cleaned him up a bit. Then Dan went with him to the nursery for the real clean up and I was sewed back up for a while. I got to my room around 1 and wasn't feeling too bad. Shaking a lot and a little queasy but no throwing up! I thought for sure I'd get to hold baby boy faster. They kept me in recovery for about 30 minutes and I was very anxious to get down to baby and hold him. They finally brought me down and said they'd go get Dan and baby. Dan was feeding him a bottle and his lips were a little purple so they decided to check his oxygen before they brought him in to me. I waited forever and ever and ever.  Finally around three they came in and I got to hold him for a minute while they explained that he was having trouble keeping his lungs open so they were going to take him up to the NICU. They were going to put him on the cpap for an hour and see if that helped. The Dr said it might just be amniotic fluid still in the lungs. They took him up and checked his glucose which looked good and put him on the cpap. Dan sent me some pictures while I waited in recovery. It was very hard not to be able to hold him or even be with him. I started getting feeling back in my legs and around my incision but I'm still just waiting. I really hoped he was ok and they could just bring him back down to me. They won't admit him to the NICU unless they find another problem or he's been on the cpap for 6 hours. If he's admitted they'll run some more tests and see what's wrong.

Poor baby. They took him off the CPAP and let him come down. I fed him and got to hold him for about an hour. We hadn't decided on his name yet since I had barely held him so that was our number one priority. We had some options but he just looked more like a Wesley to me. Dan's mom and dad came and then Devin and Jared and Cate. Right after Devin got here the nurse took him in to be checked because he was kind of grunting while he was breathing still. The respiratory nurse checked his oxygen and it was borderline but dipped a little below so they decided to take him back up to the NICU. He got an iv of antibiotics and they were going to do a chest x Ray. His oxygen in the NICU was normal mostly but then dropped once again. They just want to see what is causing the drops but it is hard for me because I can't go up and see him. They did the chest x Ray and said it's hard to tell if it's fluid or infection this young so they just started the antibiotics. He's also on oxygen but only 25-30%. I was still hopeful he can could back down and be with us today!  I still didn't feel like I had him yet :( 

Notes from Tuesday: So Wesley had to stay in the NICU over night. They put the cpap back on and he's been on it pretty much all day. Some of his blood work came back a little iffy but not definitive. Another lab indicated that it probably wasn't an infection that would need a week of antibiotics so we hope he is home in under a week. They started upping his feedings tonight so we'll see if that helps him heal. If he keeps down the feedings and finishes his antibiotic then he can get the iv out. Maybe tomorrow morning. They are going to leave the cpap for at least 4-6 hours and then see how he does. They will definitely have him all night. At least tonight I got to hold him for a while. Even though he was all plugged in and most of his face is blocked by the cpap, it was very nice to sit and hold him while he slept. Dan and his dad gave Wesley a blessing tonight. We really want to be able to take him home tomorrow or Thursday!

Camden came today but could only go in the lobby so we went out to see him. He was so cute. Dan took him to the Bean museum and lunch and ice cream. He had a lot of fun but wanted us to come home with him.  I felt bad that we couldn't hang out more. He cried when they left and it about killed me. I just kept thinking how I couldn't have either of my boys with me! Tomorrow Dan is going home to get Camden and take my mom to the airport. Dan will probably have dinner and stay overnight at home depending on where Wesley is and how soon they think I will be discharged. We've said lots of prayers so I hope he can be released tomorrow!

Wednesday morning  we went up to see Wesley and he was doing a lot better. They kept him on the CPAP all night and took him off around 7am. We spent the day in the NICU holding him and crossing our fingers he'd be released. He was breathing well and had finished his dose of antibiotics. They let me bottle feed him all day and it felt finally like he was ours. The nurse seemed pretty sure that he'd be released to us that afternoon. She took his IV out and got his regular nursery bed ready. Finally the dr came over and released him!!! We were pretty much ecstatic. We hung out with him in our room for a bit and then Dan had to head home to get Camden. He took my mom to the airport and then got Camden ready for his sleepover at grandma's. We were able to skype a couple of nights in the hospital and Camden got to see Wesley. Usually Camden is done skyping pretty quick but he just kept saying he wanted to talk more. He cried when Dan had to turn it off. He had fun at grandmas though.

Dan came back to the hospital and we got to have Wesley all night! It was pretty much the best. We informed the nurses that we wanted to go home ASAP the next day. They made sure to get Wesley on the schedule for his circumcision the next morning. Thursday around 11 we finally had the ok from my dr and the pediatrician. The nurse took my staples out, loaded us up with hospital stuff and discharged us!

Camden was hanging out with my grandma at home and we were so excited for these brothers to meet. I came in first and Camden ran right to me. We sat on the couch and Dan brought in Wesley. Camden was a little nervous but excited. It was so nice to be home with my whole family. 

I'm sure I left some stuff out and this is probably a little jumbled but I am just so so glad everything worked out ok. Wesley is healthy and I am healing pretty well. Camden is adjusting like a champ (getting spoiled by grandmas and grandpas helps).

Now for the pictures:

Heading to the Hospital

I'm huge! I was measuring 42 wks

 

Anxiously waiting

Dan loves his suit. They have to go get him the biggest size booties

My first glimpse!

Dan texted me this picture. I hated not being able to be up there.

Getting to hold him finally!!!!

Handsome old man baby!

Proud dad

Family shot right before they took him back

I was finally able to go up and see him.

We couldn't hold him on the CPAP and they didn't really like us holding him much because laying out flat was better for his lungs. It was not great for us though.

All the sticky on his face from tubes being taped to him

Camden LOVED the Bean museum. He also loved getting to be with dad for a little while.

Learning about the bugs

Dad visiting

No CPAP but still a feeding tube. He HATED that tube and kept gagging on it.

Finally all unplugged! He still has an IV in here but we were so excited to see his whole face. It meant progress!

I got to feed him!

We tried to hold him as much as possible

Wesley rooming with us again!

So sweet

Going home!

I love this one. He looks like this little old man patiently waiting.

Brothers meeting for the first time in person

A little timid

Camden didn't want to hold Wesley right away but he did want to feed him a bottle. He kept telling me he could do it all by himself.

Holding Wesley!

Seriously adorable.

The next morning Camden came in and shared Little Puppy with Wesley. Now he's officially accepted.

Brothers!

This is my favorite. I love these two!

Still warming up.

Wesley gets shared with a lot. These are Camden's prized possessions so it's kind of a big deal.

I have so much more I could write about us adjusting at home, How helpful everyone has been, how awesome Dan is with absolutely everything I need, and how blessed and lucky we are, but since this is already a novel, I'll save it for another post. We love having Wesley in our family!